New 120 on the way

I like your probe holder.

Looking in the refugium, I was wondering what that white pvc was until you explained that was going to be a DJ88 Ca reactor. Makes sense. I'd make a smaller bubble tower if I were you too.

I do wonder why no macro grew in there. Did you use the 5100K bulb, or the 2700K? 18" is a long way for those bulbs to penetrate. I keep my refugiums 12" deep at the most.
 
Not sure why nothing grew, could be from the lack of nutrients. I skim wet and don't feed but 1-2x per week.

I had some cheato in there, but it was always getting in the way. I was using the bulb that you recommended. In fact, it's still hanging in there.

I need to drain the sump a little to install the smaller bubble tower, guess I'll be doing that during the next h2o change.

Thanks for the compliments on the probe holder, I can make those with the best of them, but sumps, etc., I get a little sloppy. (hence, using the ca reactor for the bubble tower.)

Chris
 
Hi Chris,

I've been silently following your thread for a while and like how the tank is coming along. I am interested in this size of tank for the future. Is the 4x2x2 a standard size for Oceanic? Would you mind telling me where you ordered yours.

It's definitely time for another full tank shot by the way. :D

Thanks,

-soji
 
Soji,
I got my tank in a trade in Houston. I believe that 4x2x2 is standard for AGA and Oceanic. I think that it's a great size. It fits perfectly in the kitchen, as a 6ft tank would have been too long for the spot.

I'll have to get another full tank shot tomorrow night. The tank is asleep right now.

Chris
 
Thanks Chris,

I found both oceanic and AGA has this size. I know AGA has the center brace. Does Oceanic also have a center brace on theirs?

Thanks,

-soji
 
John,
Yea, unfortunately they do. It's about 6" of glass. It's kinda of a pain. My next tank will be eurobraced.

Chris
 
I was fooling around with my camera tonight and I had my canopy on, so I figured that I would see if I could get a neat top down shot or two. I came up with this little picture. Didn't even know the clown was there when I was taking it.

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Chris
 
So do we. Mine (horseshoe and donut) go nuts everytime I'm near the tank. Little piggies is what they are.

Chris
 
Thanks Chuck, I printed it out but I need to find a frame for it.

I added a little air dampener for the intake on my skimmer after looking at the BK skimmers. Wasn't too difficult or $$$ and I'm hoping that it helps with the sucking noise that my skimmer sometimes makes. Should help with the skimmer pulling any unwanted air/particulates into the skimmer as well.

I only snapped one picture of the diy'ing b/c it's pretty simple. Two 1 1/4" caps, short section of t12 bulb protector, some cotton balls and carbon. Drill a large hole for the input of the tubing and a few holes for the input of the air, and I'm set.

I'm working on a smaller bubble trap so that I can clean the sump a little easier. Also, I'm going to make the fuge part of my sump into a prop section instead. Gotta make some $$$ back on this investment somehow.

Chris


carbonskimmerintake.jpg
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Well, time for an update. Everything is going well. I took out the bubble tower and put a filter sock on the drain instead. The bubble tower was collecting too much detrius. This way, with a filter sock, I can just take it out, wash it and install another one.

I picked up some small sps colonies in Indy for cfrobin and myself. We ended up splitting 6 different colonies. I was a little afraid of carrying them on the plane, but it ended up working out great. I even wrapped them in wet paper towels instead of bags of water. Polyps were out that night and no color loss.

I'll be getting a small group buy from those guys (extreme aquarium.com) in the spring if anyone is interested.

Now, on to the pictures:

Full tank shot:

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Side view:

PC180113.jpg
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Other side view:

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Three of the 6 colonies that we bought:

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A. hoeke frags that I took (chris got the mother colony)

PC180110.jpg
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Unsure what this is, Brian at EA told me, but I can't remember now:

PC180103.jpg
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We also picked up this deep water acro:

PC180104.jpg
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And I got a small frag of this piece, seen a few pictures up:

PC180107.jpg
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Everything else seems to be doing well. I need to figure out how to raise my mg a little though, I think that if Fish Gallery has some dolomite, I'll pick some up.

Blue tipped acro w/ valida in background:

PC180111.jpg
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Cali tort and a. albo:

calitortandalbo.jpg
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Yea, that's what I'm thinking. Of course, I keep cramming more frags/small colonies in there. Oh well, I guess I should start to limit myself to what I buy.

Did you find that thread that grim-bob had on the steel stand?

Chris
 
@Olaggie01 wrote:
Did you find that thread that grim-bob had on the steel stand? Chris said:
Yes. I just found it. It seems the thread ended without seeing the completed stand. I wonder how he's doing.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
 
Wow!, I can't believe that I have never seen your thread before today! Things are looking great and will be AWESOME in 2 years! 8) Good Luck!
 
Hey Soji - I'M STILL ALIVE!!!

Just been very busy for the several months. I haven't had as much time as I used to have to keep up with the board or work on the new tank for that matter. But I've been trying to catch up and been lurking quietly.

In any case.... I've slowly started back to getting my tank finished in the last few weeks. Been so long that I'm having to figure out where I left off. I'm hoping to have some pictures of my finished stand and few other improvments within a few weeks. Then it'll be on to building the sump. I'm going back and forth on building or buying a skimmer. I've settled on the ASM/Euroreef design no matter which way I decide to go. I'll resurrect my old thread in the next couple of weeks with some updates.

Chris - It looks like your's has come together nicely. well done!!!
 
Thanks Ryan. Looks like your tank is coming along great as well. I need to make it out there sometime and see that monster.

Josh, glad to hear that you are still around. Is your old tank still up and running? Did you ever get your stand welded up? I think that design could hold a truck. I will never go back to wood again.

BTW, I fed some cyclopeeze last night, and boy, those polyps sure did open up.

I've got some diy branch rock curing in a tub in my garage. I'm hoping by the middle or late Jan to re-aquascape it. I need to lift the rocks off the starboard and I want to put 2 branching rocks that criss-cross across the back. I have a design in mind, I just hope that I can make it happen. Plus, I need to get that xenia out of the way. And, as always, my wife wants another fish or two.

Chris
 
My old tank is still up with few changes since I didn't want to dump any cash into it that could go to the new tank.

The stand is being welded as we speak and hopefully will be at the powdercoater sometime next week. I made a few small changes to the design that made it even sturdier with some easier cuts using the larger steel tube. I'll get pictures out once it's done but it is still basically the same design as yours. I think steel with a nice wood skirt is the way to go. You get better stability with easier access to all components. It's a win/win with the only draw back of needing to be able to or know someone who can weld.

If anyone else is interested in a steel stand design let me know. I can put something together and put it into the modeling tool to make sure that it will hold up under the stresses involved with sitting a tank full of water on it.
 
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